Captain America (2009 series) #610

After their battle with Iron Hand Hauptmann, Steve Rogers, the Falcon, and Black Widow are at a loss; they do not know where Baron Zemo has taken the kidnapped Bucky. Sharon Carter contacts Steve to tell him he has a call from the President; while trying to avoid the call, Steve suddenly realizes where Bucky is…

…On the North Sea island which was the first Baron Zemo’s base, Bucky Barnes has been stranded in the rain, without his Captain America mask and shield. He makes his way to the castle where he confronts his enemy. Zemo holds the shield and uniform but does not consider that they rightfully belong to Bucky. Suddenly, Zemo’s men pour into the courtyard and attack. Bucky fights them off but Zemo conks the hero with his own shield. The Nazi taunts Bucky, telling him he does not deserve to be Captain America, that he has not earned his redemption. Bucky pursues his foe into the castle and rips off his mask, exposing the burned flesh beneath. Zemo continues to insist that Bucky is a soldier, a killer, and not a hero—which made him the ideal assassin as Winter Soldier. Bucky recovers the shield only to be knocked out by a booby trap placed on it….

He awakens to find himself strapped to a drone plane as he was many years earlier. Zemo explains that Bucky is still battling his guilt and that from now on he will have to earn everything he has. Then the plane launches. Bucky struggles with the thought that perhaps he deserves to die because of all the blood on his hands, but at the last minute he ears himself free and plunges into the water as the plane explodes. He swims to shore to find his mask and shield waiting for him, now that he has made his first step in earning the right to be Captain America. An hour later his friends arrive to take him home—to the "whole other hell" waiting for him….

Welcome Home—Conclusion

Synopsis

By Peter Silvestro
Rating:

After Steve Rogers’ raid on the urban terrorist gang’s base, he gives the credit to Nomad. When she has recovered consciousness she wants to know if he was following her. He tells her he was merely following the same trail and it led him to the same place. Distraught, she tells Steve she’s staying (as Nomad—see last issue) and runs off in tears. Later, Steve tells Natasha he’s disappointed in himself: he lied to her. He did follow her out of fear for her safety. Natasha tells him she wouldn’t have given Rikki the Nomad costume if she didn’t think she could handle herself. That night, Nomad tells Arana that she failed to rescue Steve at the raid because her body shut down on her. Steve is like her second father and she lost him when he left the pocket universe (Heroes Reborn) and again when as Captain America, he was assassinated. She feels that the only way she can cope is to distance herself from Steve. Instead she invites him to a bowling alley to challenge him to a match—just like old times. "This is how you welcome your friend home."

Characters
Good (or All)

Plus: Arana (Araña), Nomad (Rikki Barnes).